


Eighteen Months Later

by Winter_Writer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Castiel/Dean Winchester One Shot, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gen, One Shot, Sam Winchester Has a Girlfriend, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 14:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15002927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Writer/pseuds/Winter_Writer
Summary: SPOILER ALERT FOR SUPERNATURAL SEASONS 1-5. (YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.) AU where instead of Lucifer/Sam falling into the Cage, Bobby sacrificed himself to save Sam. 18 months after Sam stopped hunting, an unexpected visitor arrives at his home.





	Eighteen Months Later

Eighteen months ago, Sam Winchester would have reacted differently. Eighteen months ago, when he heard the knock on the door, his whole body would have tensed. His fingers would have curled around his gun, gripping it so tight that his knuckles turned white. Then he would have crept towards the door with his mind racing through a hundred different monsters that could be waiting. 

Eighteen months ago, he would have reacted like a hunter, but he was not the man he used to be. Of course he still had nightmares about Lucifer possessing his body, but those dreams were getting less frequent every month. 

Instead, he laid his pen beside the folder with his new client’s claims and stood up from his desk. He walked to the door with relaxed shoulders and swinging arms. The hint of a smile appeared on his face. Perhaps the visitor was his neighbor, old Mrs. Goodwin, with an extra batch of brownies. It wouldn’t be surprising if she made more because she had read the recipe wrong. Maybe it was Amanda, coming to surprise him. He hoped they didn’t have a date he forgot about. However, the person at the door could just as well have been the mailman asking him to sign for a package. 

He opened the door and froze. 

It was not Mrs. Goodwin. Or Amanda. Or the mailman. 

"Hello, Sam," said the angel. 

The human blinked and said nothing. 

"I understand you requested that Dean and I not go searching for you, but I am afraid that it is an emergency."

Sam scanned the road for his brother’s Impala. Only his neighbors’ cars lined the street. Sam took a step back. "Um, okay. Come in, Cas."

"Thank you." 

Sam closed the door behind his old friend. Inside, Cas's eyes flicked around the house, between furniture and Sam and back again. "You seem to have been very successful financially since your departure," remarked Cas, fidgeting with his hands. 

"Yeah," said Sam, "I have a degree from Stanford and thought I could put it to some use. I began practicing."

"Practicing what? Piano?"

"I--"

"Your piano is not in the living room. Where do you keep it?"

Sam sighed. The angel was an encyclopedia when it came to monsters, but clueless when dealing with anything mundane. 

"I meant I'm practicing law."

"Ah. Yes, legal professions typically have high salaries." Cas rubbed his thumb over something on his hand. It glinted gold in the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows. 

"What's on your hand?" asked Sam. 

Cas pulled his hands apart and looked down at them, as if he hadn’t realized he was toying with the object. It was a ring. 

"Cas, you . . . you're married?"

The angel nodded. "Yes. Dean and I would have invited you, but we had no way of finding or contacting you, so we carried on with the festivities."

Sam stared at the man before him. “Dean married you?” 

"Yes. It was a nice wedding, and--"

Sam shook his head in an attempt to clear his jumbled thoughts. "When?"

"When? Well, it was supposed to start at noon, but the pastor was late--"

"When did you get married?"

"Thirty six minutes later than we planned--"

"Okay, but how long ago did you get married? What date?"

Cas narrowed his blue eyes. Sam had a faint memory of those eyes emitting an intense blue glow and destroying a room full of demons. "You interrupt my sentences more, now that you have been gone for two years."

"I'm sorry Cas, but it’s a lot to take in. Dean’s gay, and he’s married, and you’re married, and . . .” Sam trailed off and rubbed his eyes. “Lately I've been dealing with tax law, not family."

Cas absently twisted the ring. "Well, the answer to your previous question is that we were married six months ago. It was a bit of a lonely wedding. Most angels had mixed feelings towards me after the Lucifer incident, and Dean had few friends attending, which is not very surprising considering most of them sacrificed themselves: John, Jo, Ellen, Bobby--"

Sam flinched at hearing Bobby's name, and Castiel noticed. 

"Sam, there is no need for you to feel guilty about Bobby Singer's sacrifice."

"I don't feel guilty," said Sam, turning so that he could avoid meeting Cas's eyes. 

"He knew what he was doing," continued Cas, ignoring Sam. "When he asked me for the spell, he was so persistent and stubborn that he trapped me in angel fire and would not let me leave until I told him."

Sam was motionless. His eyes were fixed on the wall, but he wasn’t seeing anything. "You gave Bobby the spell?"

"Yes, I just said that."

Sam spun around to face Cas, his hands clenched into fists. " _ I _ was supposed to be Lucifer's vessel!  _ I  _ should have fallen into the Cage!" Sam, red in the face, charged at the quiet angel and grabbed him by the collar of his trench coat. "It's your fault that Bobby is in the Cage, instead of me!" Sam's eyes bulged and spit flew from his mouth as he shouted. 

Cas's face exhibited his pity. He calmly removed Sam's hands from his collar. Sam glared at Cas for a long moment. Sam shook his head and walked away. He rested his forehead against the wall, trying to control his raging emotions. Other than his friends' constant deaths, the main reason he had given up hunting was because the stress and emotional imbalance were almost like torture. 

"If it is any consolation," said Cas, "Bobby died the second that Lucifer entered his body."

"How is that supposed to be consolation?" Sam grumbled to the wall. 

"Bobby's soul is in Heaven, not in Lucifer's Cage."

A silence stretched between them, a tense, awkward silence. Finally, Sam turned around. "So Bobby made you give him a spell that forced Lucifer to go into his body."

"Well, technically it was a sigil he carved into his palm, but yes, it pulled Lucifer out of your body and into his." Cas rubbed his ring with his thumb. 

"Then Bobby . . . died, and Lucifer fell into the Cage in Bobby's body."

"Yes. Adam and Michael also fell into the Cage with Lucifer."

"Yeah, I remember." Sam raked his hands through his hair. 

"Dean was very unstable after you left," said Castiel. "He was extremely frustrated and angry at being unable to prevent Bobby's death."

"That sounds like him," remarked Sam under his breath. 

"He continued hunting, which I am certain is not a surprise to you." Cas twisted the ring over his finger. "I came here because I need to talk to you about Dean. He--"

The angel was cut off by a beeping. Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

"Who is calling?" asked Cas.

"It's a text," said Sam. 

"Who is Amanda?" asked Cas, peering at the phone screen. "Another lawyer?"

"She’s actually a psychiatrist."

"You have a psychiatrist?"

"No, she's my girlfriend."

Cas raised his eyebrows. "You are dating your psychiatrist?"

"What? No, she's my girlfriend and also a psychiatrist.”

"I understand now," said the angel. 

Sam glanced between his phone and his visitor. "How long will this take?" 

Cas looked miserable. "I am not sure."

Sam put his phone back in his pocket. He could text Amanda back later. 

"Don't get me wrong," began Sam, "I don't mind that you're here--"

"Yes, you do," said Cas. "I knew you would dislike my presence after you worked so hard to leave Dean and me. Unfortunately, this is an emergency and it was necessary that I found you."

"So what's the emergency?"

Cas looked at his wedding ring and ran his fingers over it. "Dean went on a hunting trip."

Sam sighed. "Cas, I gave up hunting a long time ago. Dean can take care of himself. Besides, you're an angel. You can help with whatever big bad he's dealing with."

Cas looked directly into Sam's eyes. "Dean went on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days."


End file.
